A judge has upheld the conviction of an Easton man serving 10 to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of stalking his probation officer, finding he isn't entitled to a new trial despite his lawyer's admission to "reeling" from personal and professional problems at the time.

Prosecutors presented a "quantum of evidence" to prove Oxford stalked probation officer Jennifer Dodwell and barraged her with threatening emails, Roscioli wrote. Oxford's appellate lawyer, Tyree Blair, failed to show the verdict may have been different, had the mistakes he complained of not happened, she said.

The ruling, issued March 20, sets the stage for an appeal to Superior Court. Blair did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Oxford's September 2014 trial has produced finger pointing and charges and counter-charges. The judge who presided, Jennifer Sletvold, repeatedly clashed with Rybak in court, and later recused herself from hearing Oxford's appeal after Blair raised questions about her impartiality.

But in removing herself last year, Sletvold issued a blistering 23-page criticism of Rybak and Blair, comparing the defense lawyers to their client, saying all three shared "a marked lack of boundaries."

That led to the appeal being heard by Roscioli. At a hearing February before her, Rybak testified that Oxford's case was an unexpected assignment, with him winding up with a trial days away and more than 1,000 emails to review.

"At that point in my career and life, I felt like I was reeling," Rybak said.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Pepper, who prosecuted Oxford, opposed a new trial. Pepper said Oxford, 47, was found guilty because of "overwhelming evidence," and not Rybak's run-ins with Sletvold.

According to testimony, Oxford sent a series of ominous emails to Dodwell, often in the wee hours of the morning, and also walked by her former home in Bethlehem and posted her address online.

In rejecting the appeal, Roscioli said Blair failed to develop several of his claims of ineffectiveness. In others, Blair failed to show his client was prejudiced, she wrote.

Roscioli noted Oxford "never contended that he was not the author of even one of the emails at issue."